Zionist Union party co-leaders Isaac Herzog listens to Tzipi Livni as she delivers a statement in the party's election headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 18, 2015, a day after Israel held legislative election. Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party scored a resounding victory in Israel's election, final results showed Wednesday, a stunning turnaround after a tight race that had put his lengthy rule in jeopardy. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
(The Associated Press)

JERUSALEM – The centrist front-runner defeated in Israel's parliamentary election this week says his party will not join the next government, and accused Benjamin Netanyahu of racism.

Isaac Herzog says his Zionist Union, which finished second in the vote, would sit in the opposition and "challenge a narrow right-wing government."